*Image via Remington website

In a sign of the times, the iconic gunmaker announced the decision on Monday. From the AP report:

Gun maker Remington Firearms will move its headquarters from Ilion, New York, to Georgia, with plans to open a factory and research operation there.

The company announced Monday that it would invest $100 million in the operation in LaGrange, Georgia, southwest of Atlanta, hiring 856 people over five years. …

Remington, the country’s oldest gun maker, began making flintlock rifles in 1816. It swelled into a firearms conglomerate, but faced slumping sales, complaints about quality, and legal pressure over the Sandy Hook school massacre. …

Gun makers have been leaving their traditional homes in the northeast as people there become more hostile to guns and moving to more politically welcoming settings in the South and West.

“We are very excited to come to Georgia, a state that not only welcomes business but enthusiastically supports and welcomes companies in the firearms industry,” Remington CEO Ken D’Arcy said in a statement. …

“Georgia’s firearms industry is responsible for thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment in our communities,” [Georgia Gov. Brian] Kemp said in a statement. “I am a proud owner of some of Remington’s first-class product, and now, I am excited to welcome them to their new home in the Peach State.”